Yeah. Could I get any more blunt?
Remember my family vacation post? Well, we’re still planning on a cruise and Lydia needs a passport. It takes 12billion years to actually get it in our hot little hands, so we didn’t want to waste any more time. I looked at 2 websites, called 3 post offices and the USPS toll-free number. I found a post office about 30 minutes away that doesn’t require appointments for passports.
Before we go any further, you should know BOTH parents have to accompany a child to get a passport.
Now, we drive 30 minutes to the post office and see a gigantic line. I’m looking around for a passport window, or a pile of forms or something and finally see a sign that says “Passports. Hours 9-4.” Great! We’re right on time. One of the postmen (mail clerks? employees?) sees us by the sign and asks us if we have the “new forms”.
Me: New forms?
Mail Guy: Yes, we just got new forms on February 1st.
Me: You don’t have them here?
Mail Guy: No. We just got new forms on February 1st. You have to download them.
DH: We live 30 minutes away.
Mail Guy: Well, you can download them across the street at Kinko’s. They charge you a fee, though.
DH: Ooo-kaaay.
Mail Guy: How old is she? (pointing to Lydia)
Me: Two.
Mail Guy: Do you have her picture?
Me: No. Don’t you do them here?
Mail Guy: Yeah, but we’re not good with kids. You can just go get them taken at Walgreen’s or CVS. So, just bring back your forms and your pictures before 4 and we’ll help you out.
DH: Uh, thanks.
Me: FOR NOTHING!
Are you believing this?! They don’t have the FORMS?! I have to download them and bring them to the post office myself?! Did I mention that I called 3 post offices, went to 2 websites and called the USPS toll free number? And did I mention that NOT ONE OF THEM told me I needed to bring MY OWN forms!
So, we drive home, give Lydia a nap, DOWNLOAD the forms and then head to the post office again. When we get there at 3:55 (oops!) they are not happy to see us. We spoke to at least 3 different people, none of which smiled or were remotely friendly. Lydia got her picture taken like a pro. Then we paid a ridiculous amount (3 digits!) for it to be expedited so we can get it in a mere two weeks!
If there was a candidate running on a FIX THE POST OFFICE ticket, I would vote for him in a heartbeat.
Keiti says
Yuck! I’m sorry you had to go through all of that insanity!
I’m just praying that getting my UK Student Visa goes much smoother.
I’m selfish like that.
🙂
Stephanie says
Hilarious!! We have to get the kids’ passports for a November wedding in Mexico, so thanks for the tips!
bee says
I had no idea it was such a hassle!!
And 3 digits??? Whoa!
Mary C says
Oh my word. I am seriously impressed that no “bad words” were muttered on your way out!
Elizabeth says
Government operations at their best. Imagine what the “universal healthcare” would be like. lol.
brandybuzz says
Post office people are totally unfriendly most of the time. They just want you to figure it out, they don’t want to tell you any details. I do hate the post office.
Staci says
Ugh…I sympathize with you.
Carey says
I do not like the post office either…i know about the 2 parent thing for passports..only because i was standing in line forever, and i heard the “rules” explained to another in line.
I avoid it if i can.
Our post office also gives free coloring books to the kids(not that my son cares). He likes to climb on things and knock over trash cans while we are there.
Cindy Hunnicutt says
Moral of that story? DO NOT VOTE DEMOCRAT! They love the federal government to come up with other equally lovely “solutions” such as the IRS and their awesome Health Plans. Yuck!
Christi says
oh girl I’m with ya! We just got passports for a cruise, and it took so long that I started kidding the boys that we were just going to LIVE at the courthouse, where we had to take care of the majority of ours. Where/when ya cruisin’? Wouldn’t it be the coolest if we were going on the same one?!
Colleen says
We just got Zoe’s passport. We must have a much better post office than you though… I thought it was a breeze. We did have Zoe’s picture taken at Picture People when they did our family portrait though.
I thought we would have to go to our town court house building to get it and was thrilled when I found out I could just go to the post office here in town (since they had Saturday hours). I know it’s too late to give this info… but both parents DON’T have to be there if you have one parent fill out a permission type form they have online that has to be notarized. When I thought I had to go to the court house they only had M-F hours and Nick couldn’t take off work… so he had the form filled out and stamped.
We paid the ridiculous price to have it “expedited” too. Yikes.
Kevyn says
OK..here’s the scoop from a postal worker. As far as the forms go, it’s not our (the clerks)fault. The new passport forms came into effect on Feb 1st. Post offices were suppose to receive an automatic shipment by then, but most did not. Why? I have no idea. Wasn’t told any reason why. I would suspect that some other agency dropped the ball. If any one else has this problem just know that you can still use the old forms according to the New Orleans Passport agency. As far as the pictures are concerned, he should not have told you that. I would have at least tried to take one. Although we don’t get any training on picture taking, it’s not that difficult. As for the price, that is not set by us. The postal service charges a flat rate of $25 to execute the passport application and $15 for passport pictures. Everything else you paid was to the State Dept. And if you chose to send and/or receive the passport by express mail you had mailing fees too. A person under sixteen years old will pay $60 for the passport and $25 to execute it. A person sixteen and older pays $75 and $25. To expedite any passport costs an extra $60 per passport. The wait for a non-expedited passport is now about four to six weeks, and an expedited one is about three weeks. You can get them quicker if you call a passport agency and make an appointment, the number is 1-877-487-2778 and the web site is travel.state.gov In closing, post office people are NOT totally unfriendly most of the time. Although it sounds crude it is not our responsibility to educate the public on how to obtain a passport. With the phone number and web site I’ve alluded to you can find out anything you need to know regarding passports. Our problem is that you’d think that most people would make an attempt to know what to do before coming to the post office. Then they get to the post office and want to take out their frustrations on us because we tell them for one reason or another that they can’t apply because they haven’t got proper documentation. For an adult to get a passport you need a completed application, your birth certificate (not a xerox copy or notarized copy), proper ID such as a drivers license and two identical 2X2 passport pictures. That’s it.
For a child under sixteen you need the same thing and both parents must appear or if only one can appear you need a competed form DS-3053 available for download at the travel.state.gov web site. Hope this helps.
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